With the Patriots expected to win easily, their Divisional Round matchup with the Texans hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership.
Saturday’s Texans/Patriots AFC Divisional Round game scored a 16.0 final rating and 29.8 million viewers on CBS, down 15% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Packers/Cardinals on NBC last year (18.8, 33.7M) and down 7% and 4% respectively from Panthers/Seahawks on FOX in 2015 (17.2, 31.0M).
The Patriots’ win was the lowest rated Divisional Round game since regardless of timeslot since 2009, when Ravens/Titans had a 15.4 on CBS and Cardinals/Panthers a 13.8 on FOX. It topped only Seahawks/Falcons earlier in the day (28.7M) as the least-watched in the round since Cardinals/Saints in 2010 (27.9M).
For CBS, it was the lowest rated NFL playoff game in any round since the 2009 Ravens/Titans game and the least-watched since Ravens/Chiefs in the 2011 Wild Card (28.4M). For the Patriots, it was the lowest rated playoff game since their 2004 Divisional win over the Titans (15.9) and the least-watched since their 2010 Wild Card loss to the Ravens (27.4M).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 1/18)
